Coat of arms of Cesena on the façade of Palazzo Albornoz, the city hallPiazza del Popolo in CesenaTheBiblioteca MalatestianaThe towers of the Rocca Malatestiana in CesenaThe Abbey of St Maria del Monte
Cesena was originally anUmbrian orEtruscan town, later known asCaesena. After a brief spell underGaulish rule, it was taken over byRomans in the 3rd century BC. It was a garrison town of strategic importance which was destroyed in the wars betweenGaius Marius andSulla.Pliny mentions thewines of Cesena as among the best.
Cesena was on the border that theExarchate of Ravenna shared with theLombards. It was presented to the Papacy by its Frankish conqueror in 754 (Donation of Pepin) and passed back and forth between the popes and the archbishops of Ravenna; it was also briefly a communal republic (1183–1198). It was then long contested between popes andHoly Roman Emperors. The brief rule by the ForliveseOrdelaffi was crushed in 1357 by Papal troops led by CardinalGil de Albornoz, after a long siege heroically endured by Cia degli Ordelaffi, wife of the Lord ofForlì.
The littlecomune revolted again in 1377 during theWar of the Eight Saints. This time it was recaptured byBreton troops of Giovanni Acuto (the English-borncondottiereJohn Hawkwood) under the command ofRobert, Cardinal of Geneva (later antipope Clement VII). The latter, acting as thelegate ofPope Gregory XI, directed the savage murder of between 2,500 and 5,000 civilians.[3] By the laws of war at the time, this was regarded as an atrocity, called the "Cesena Bloodbath", and Cardinal Robert was dubbed the "butcher of Cesena". The following year what remained of Cesena was assigned by the newPope Urban VII toGaleotto I Malatesta.
During the period 1379–1465, the city recovered and prospered under the Malatesta, who rebuilt thecastle (calledRocca Malatestiana) overlooking the town. TheMalatestiana Library, built by near the castle byMalatesta Novello (1429), is considered a fine example of aRenaissance library and holds many valuable manuscripts.
After Novello's death (1465), Cesena returned to thePapal States, but was again seized by a local seignor,Cesare Borgia, in 1500. The city was elevated to capital of his powerful though short-lived duchy.
Cesena subsequently turned into a secondary city of thePapal States. In the 18th and 19th centuriesPope Pius VI andPope Pius VII were born in the city, which also hadPope Pius VIII asbishop, gaining Cesena the title of "city of the three popes". During theNapoleonic Wars, it was stripped of numerous monasteries and churches. Some of its citizens had notable roles in theunification of Italy, in the second half of the 19th century.
DuringWorld War II, Cesena was near theGothic Line, which ran along theAppennini near the city, and suffered heavily from bombing.
In 1992, it was elevated to the rank of co-capital of the province, together withForlì.
On July 30, 2015, 1,000 people gathered at the Parco Ippodromo park in Cesena and performed "Learn to Fly" by theFoo Fighters to convince the band to perform there. The group, later known as theRockin' 1000, was organized by Foo Fighters fans who played theguitar,bass, anddrums in unison to a conductor.Dave Grohl responded with a video where he announced inItalian that the band would visit Cesena and perform there. The show was scheduled for November 3, 2015, at the town's indoor sports arena and concert venue,Carisport, becoming the kickoff date for their European tour.[4]
Malatestian Fortress (Rocca Malatestiana): built by Cardinal Albornoz (from 1380) over a pre-existing edifice which had hosted, among others,Frederick Barbarossa and his grandsonFrederick II. It was completed by the Papal governor Lorenzo Zane in 1480, and was used by Cesare Borgia as jail forCaterina Sforza. It is octagonal, with two main towers, the highermaschio and the lowerfoemina
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^Mallett, Michael (2006).Signori e mercenari - La guerra nell'Italia del Rinascimento [Mercenaries and their masters - The war in the Italian Renaissance] (in Italian). Bologna: Il Mulino. pp. 47–48.ISBN88-15-11407-6.
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